Child care worker Marci Then helps her daughter, Mila, 4, put away toys to get ready for circle time at the Little Learners Academy in Smithfield, R.I. A state program for child care workers subsidizes Mila’s tuition. A handful of other states have similar programs, which advocates say has beneficial ripple effects through the state economy. (Photo by Elaine S. Povich/Stateline)
OKLAHOMA CITY – Pandemic relief funds will expire at the end of September, putting child care providers and parents who relied on the extra funding in a tight spot.
Rachel Proper, owner of seven child care centers and secretary of the Oklahoma Child Care Association, said the Oklahoma Department of Human Services has worked to prepare care providers and parents for the upcoming changes in funding.
American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, funds were used in the child care industry to help with affordability and for staffing facilities. The funds expire Sept. 30.
“They’ve always communicated from the beginning that these ARPA supports were a temporary COVID benefit,” Proper said. “And as those things started winding down, they stair-stepped it in a way so that we didn’t get hit with everything all at once.”